About Finca Santa Cecilia

At 2100 meters above sea level, at the highest point of the Ayarza region, in Santa Rosa, Guatemala, sits Finca Santa Cecilia. Vicente Alvizures, as the former owner of Finca Santa Cecilia, donated a portion of his land to the community to build roads, a church, and a cemetery. As a result, Vicente gained the respect of those who knew him. However, at the end of the 1990s, due to inheritance, the land was partitioned, and the Duarte Alvizures family took charge of the main farm. The family knew that the land had to be used in a meaningful way just like Vicente had used it for his community. That is how a member of the family decided to plant Hass avocados, the first farm in the region to grow this sought-after crop. A couple of years later, the family decided to start growing coffee due to the regional demand. What began as a side project on the farm, became a business and in 2018, Café Don Vicente was founded.

However, the development of Café Don Vicente did not go as planned. With the expenses of the farm increasing, hope began to dissipate. Flor Duarte, daughter of Humberto Duarte, the family member in charge of the farm, saw the crucial financial state her family’s farm was in and stepped in to help. Flor began to focus on management decisions and administrative structure and reached out for support from other companies. Flor discovered the Chamber of Industry in Guatemala’s “Promoter of Entrepreneurs” program. She also became involved with the Municipal Entrepreneurship Center of Guatemala (CME) that helped Flor for two years. It was through this opportunity that Flor was able to participate in the Entrepreneurship Station’s Virtual Store and sell her family’s coffee in seasonal kiosks around the country.

While engaging in all this training, Flor worked alongside her father on other ways to advance the farm. Flor began to learn of other issues that exist even within her community. Women are not typically involved in the business, so the position that she holds is a role model for other women in her community. Flor believes that she has truly been given an extraordinary opportunity to show just how valuable women can be in making important decisions and she hopes she will be able to help pave the way for future generations of women. But, her advocacy for her community does not stop here. In the coffee business, there are people named “Coyotes” that go straight to the farm to buy coffee and offer a minimum price. Since the payment is immediate, many others in this industry accept the offer despite its depleting the producer’s profit. Due to this, Flor decided that it would become Café Don Vicente’s goal to empower other coffee growers in her area and support the socio-economic growth of the region. The brand has committed to supporting the community by sharing knowledge in green technology and in the acquisition of certifications that allow producers a fair trade.

In 2021, Flor lost her dad to the COVID-19 pandemic, a devastating loss to her and her family. Although Humberto is no longer running Finca Santa Cecilia, his family believes he carved out the path of their farm’s success, and they will continue the family’s history of being advocates for their community and all of those around them.